My So-Called Live

On Live, Lag, and Latency

Lag, on the other hand, can be caused by a number of factors, including your bandwidth speed, the ISP you use, or simply the amount of traffic on the whole network. Sometimes there are network delays and rough spots that can slow everything down, which can result in lost data or delays. As Chad said, he understands the difference between latency and lag, but he still had some questions:

As I understand it, one person hosts the game. So all players in the
game connect to his XBOX? The host has everything on his screen in
real-time, while the other players have varying degrees of latency? So,
why would everyone in a game have yellow or red bars? Shouldn't at
least one person have all green bars (the host)?

As I understand it, the bars are actually telling you how likely you are to experience lag, not your degree of latency. If you've got a red bar, you're likely to experience some hiccups, or even a dropped game. Lag seems to be more connected to ping than latency, since you're actually losing data. Since it's a gaming network, Xbox Live is more likely to be concerned with solid throughput (ensuring that all the data gets through the connection) than latency.

When you're hosting a game, however, there's one factor that outweighs all others: upload speed. Most broadband users know what their optimum download speed is, and since the average user spends most of his or her time downloading everything from this very webpage to the new Queens of the Stone Age album, it's an important number to know. However, gamers should be just as worried about their upload speed, especially if they're hosting. If you're getting everyone else's data but you don't have enough bandwidth to send it back, everyone in the game is going to experience lag, even you.

So how do you know what your upload speed is? Well, all you have to do is go to a site like Broadband Reports, head to the test section, and choose a Speed Test. Once you pick a test server, simply start the test, and you'll be presented with a report that tells you both your upload and download speed. Many sites will keep track of your results, allowing you to see how much it can vary from one time to another. Try tracking your speeds for a week, and I guarantee you'll be surprised at the wide range of results. If you find that you're experiencing a lot of lag, try calling your ISP to get more bandwidth. It'll cost a bit more, but you'll be sure to have more fun. And isn't that what playing on Live is all about?

In the next column, we'll be answering some more of Chad's questions, including how stat tracking works and how servers connect gamers. If you have any questions about the inner workings of Xbox Live, please don't hesitate to email me!

[My So-Called Live is written by Will Tuttle, who is obsessive about making sure his data stream is smooth.]

Have any questions? Feel like challenging me to a game online? Any topics you'd like to suggest for future columns? Drop me a line! I promise I'll write back if you're nice. Or even if you're not.